Murong Xiaoxiao

Chapter 11: Murong Xiaoxiao

After leaving the Black Grand Hall, Shi Yue released his flying artifact and flew toward the Scripture Repository.

This time, Shi Yue spent a whole hour in the Scripture Repository before leaving. Besides copying several Jade Slips containing alchemy insights, he also copied information on several pills that Qi Refining Stage cultivators could take.

After leaving the Scripture Repository, Shi Yue returned to his residence. He cast rain over the Spirit Rice in his Spirit Field, then left.

As soon as Shi Yue returned to Green Cloud Peak, he was surprised to see a young woman who looked to be in her twenties pacing in front of Uncle-Master Zhou's courtyard, her expression anxious.

The young woman wore a blue palace dress. Her skin was snowy white, and her figure graceful. When she turned around, her breathtakingly beautiful face entered Shi Yue's view, and he even lost himself for a brief moment.

She was the most beautiful woman he had seen in Taixu Sect.

What surprised Shi Yue even more was that the young woman was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

"May I ask if you've come to see Uncle-Master Zhou, Senior?" Shi Yue hesitated briefly, then stepped forward and asked cautiously.

"You are..." The young woman looked Shi Yue over carefully, speaking with some hesitation.

"This disciple is Shi Yue. Uncle-Master Zhou has gone out on business, and this disciple is temporarily helping him watch over his cave residence," Shi Yue replied respectfully.

"Do you know when Senior Brother Zhou will return?" The young woman nodded and asked.

"This disciple doesn't know. Uncle-Master Zhou didn't say when he would return," Shi Yue said, shaking his head.

At this, the young woman knitted her willow brows. After pondering for a moment, she instructed him, "When Senior Brother Zhou returns, tell him that Murong Xiaoxiao of Sky Spring Peak has an important matter to discuss with him. Ask him to come find me, or send someone to deliver a message. Understood?"

"This disciple understands." Shi Yue readily agreed.

The young woman nodded. With a flick of her sleeve, a lifelike White Lotus flew out. It swelled in the breeze and hovered a foot above the ground.

The young woman leaped onto the White Lotus and formed a Hand Seal with one hand. The White Lotus immediately shone brilliantly, transformed into a streak of white light, and flew toward the horizon. After flickering a few times, it vanished without a trace.

Only after watching Murong Xiaoxiao leave did Shi Yue use his token to open the restrictions and enter the courtyard.

He first checked on the Water Moon Flower's growth. After confirming that nothing was amiss, he returned to the basement.

He entered the Mysterious Space and checked on the Blazing Sun Grass and Condensing Smoke Grass. Both had grown a little taller. The Blazing Sun Grass had red leaves, while the Condensing Smoke Grass had white ones.

Shi Yue formed Hand Seals with both hands. A white cloud the size of a fist appeared above his head. It rapidly expanded until it was several dozen zhang wide, then stopped.

"Go." Shi Yue pointed toward the Spirit Field above, and the white cloud quickly flew over it.

Once it reached the Spirit Field, drizzle began to fall in an endless patter.

Washed by the rain, the Blazing Sun Grass looked even more vibrant.

After watering the Blazing Sun Grass, Shi Yue watered the Condensing Smoke Grass as well.

"Huh, what's this?" Shi Yue was surprised to find yellow spots on the leaves of several Condensing Smoke Grass plants.

"Don't tell me they're sick!" Shi Yue's heart lurched, and he grew nervous.

Condensing Smoke Grass was a water-element spirit herb. The whiter its leaves, the better its quality. Yellow spots on the leaves most likely meant it was sick.

Shi Yue crouched down and carefully examined the Condensing Smoke Grass with spotted leaves. To his surprise, there were some unknown little bugs inside the leaves, and quite a lot of them. The yellow spots had been caused by the bugs chewing away at the leaves.

The bugs were transparent and tiny; they would have been impossible to spot without a close look.

What shocked Shi Yue was that each Condensing Smoke Grass plant had at least a dozen transparent bugs, and some had dozens. The leaves had rotted away. Even more infuriating, he discovered the same bugs on the Blazing Sun Grass. Since its leaves were red, however, the transparent bugs were harder to notice.

Shi Yue walked around the two mu of Spirit Fields. The farther he went, the more shocked he became. Every one of the thousand or so spirit herbs in the fields had these transparent bugs on it.

The transparent bugs burrowed inside the spirit herbs and bred, slowly eating them hollow from within.

Burn them with fire? That wouldn't work; the spirit herbs would probably be ruined too. Soak them in water? That didn't seem viable either. Too much water would affect their growth and could even kill them.

Shi Yue thought it over and over, but couldn't come up with a good solution.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. There were quite a few books on cultivation on the Wood Shelf in the Stone Room. Perhaps one of them had a solution.

With that thought, Shi Yue left the Mysterious Space, hurried over to the Wood Shelf, and began quickly flipping through the books.

An hour later, Shi Yue's eyes lit up. His gaze fixed on a page of the silver book in his hand. It had an illustration of the same transparent bugs he had found in the Condensing Smoke Grass. Below it was a passage:

"Scale Insects feed on the leaves, branches, and fruit of spirit herbs and Spirit Fruit Trees. Once hatched, the larvae live on the branches, leaves, or fruit for their entire lives, causing leaves to yellow, branch tips to wither, and trees to decline. The Metal Spirit Art can kill these insects."

"Metal Spirit Art?" Shi Yue frowned as he read this.

Shi Yue had previously been busy harvesting spirit herbs and cultivating the Great Void Art. He had no time to learn any other Hand Seals. Aside from the Spring Rain Art and Blaze Art, he didn't know any others.

Learning a new Hand Seal now would be a challenge for him.

Even so, he had to learn the Metal Spirit Art. The fate of two mu of spirit herbs was at stake, and Shi Yue didn't dare be careless.

He found a Jade Slip titled Casting the Five Elements Arts on the Wood Shelf and pressed it to his brow. After finding the section on the Metal Spirit Art, he read it word by word, not daring to miss a thing.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Shi Yue had memorized the entire Metal Spirit Art. He put down the Jade Slip and began trying to cast it.

The Metal Spirit Art was a metal-element Hand Seal. Metal represented slaughter, making it the most powerful of the five-element arts.

The first step in cultivating the Metal Spirit Art was to condense a Metal Spirit Ray.

Shi Yue formed Hand Seals with both hands, his ten fingers constantly changing gestures, but nothing happened.

He grew anxious, eager to condense a Metal Spirit Ray as quickly as possible. But the more anxious he became, the more mistakes he made, and the Metal Spirit Ray never appeared, as if it didn't exist at all.

Seeing this, Shi Yue took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. Then his fingers began rapidly forming the Hand Seal.

Shi Yue's fingers kept changing gestures, but nothing happened in his hands. He didn't give up. Gritting his teeth, he kept at it.

A day and a night passed, and Shi Yue was still practicing, trying to condense a Metal Spirit Ray.

The long practice left him looking haggard, his eyes bloodshot, as if he had just suffered a serious illness.

If he couldn't deal with the Scale Insects in his Spirit Fields, the two mu of spirit herbs might yield nothing at all. Shi Yue couldn't bear to see that happen. His cultivation prospects were at stake, so he had to take this seriously.

After failing over a thousand times, a golden light appeared on Shi Yue's finger, as if he were wearing a glittering golden thimble. A pale golden ray of energy emerged at his fingertip, dancing between his fingers.

The pale golden ray of energy was the Metal Spirit Ray described in the Metal Spirit Art!

A hint of joy appeared on Shi Yue's weary face. He had been using the Metal Spirit Art day and night and had failed over a thousand times, to the point where he had grown numb. The sudden appearance of the Metal Spirit Ray rekindled his hope.

Shi Yue immediately entered the Mysterious Space and went to a Condensing Smoke Grass plant. He attached his divine sense to the Metal Spirit Ray and flicked his finger. A strand of Metal Spirit Ray flashed out and entered the plant.

Through the divine sense attached to the Metal Spirit Ray, Shi Yue could see clearly inside the Condensing Smoke Grass.

In a lush green space, a group of plump transparent bugs were constantly gnawing on the green flesh around them.

At the sight, Shi Yue flew into a rage. He controlled the Metal Spirit Ray, turning it into a Golden Flying Sword, and slashed at one of the transparent bugs.

With a faint pfft, the transparent bug was cleaved in two. Its bloated body fell to the ground, spilling a pool of green liquid.

At that moment, the other Scale Insects spotted the Metal Spirit Ray intruder. They opened their mouths and each spat out a long, thin strand of white silk.

Caught off guard, Shi Yue's Metal Spirit Ray, with his divine sense attached to it, was ensnared. No matter how he urged it, the ray couldn't break free.

Before long, strand after strand of white silk had wound tightly around the Metal Spirit Ray. The silk dragged it toward the mouth of the largest Scale Insect.

Seeing this, Shi Yue's heart lurched, and he hurriedly withdrew his divine sense.

Shi Yue gave a cold snort and flicked his finger. Two pale golden Metal Spirit Rays flashed out and entered the Condensing Smoke Grass.

This time, Shi Yue had learned his lesson. He controlled the two Metal Spirit Rays to attack the Scale Insects from opposite directions.

The Scale Insects continuously spat out white silk, trying to ensnare the two Metal Spirit Rays. Having learned his lesson, Shi Yue wouldn't let the silk hit them again. He kept changing the rays' directions.

Thanks to Shi Yue's efforts, the Scale Insects inside this Condensing Smoke Grass plant were soon all killed.

Strangely enough, the Metal Spirit Rays were deadly to the Scale Insects, yet gentle and harmless to the spirit herbs.

Soon, the Scale Insects inside the second Condensing Smoke Grass plant were also killed by the Metal Spirit Rays. Then the third, the fourth...

After the Scale Insects inside the tenth Condensing Smoke Grass plant were killed, Shi Yue withdrew his divine sense, drenched in sweat as if he had just finished some strenuous exercise. Even his back was soaked.

He hadn't used much of his magical power, but his divine sense was almost completely exhausted.

Shi Yue's head throbbed, and he felt dizzy and dazed.

"No wonder there are so few Spirit Planters. Killing bugs takes such a toll on your divine sense," Shi Yue muttered to himself.

After resting briefly, Shi Yue continued casting the Metal Spirit Art. He condensed two more Metal Spirit Rays, sent them into the Condensing Smoke Grass, and exterminated the Scale Insects.

Shi Yue vented all the pent-up energy from the day and night it had taken him to condense the Metal Spirit Ray on the Scale Insects. Whenever he spotted one, he killed it without mercy.

He stayed in the Mysterious Space for three whole days.

He spent three days and nights killing every Scale Insect inside the spirit herbs.

After days of killing bugs, his divine sense was badly depleted, and his head swam.

As soon as Shi Yue stopped, an unbearable wave of drowsiness washed over him. He forced himself to stay awake, walked into the stone hut, lay down on the stone bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Shi Yue had a beautiful dream. He dreamed that the two mu of spirit herbs in the Mysterious Space had yielded a bumper harvest, and he had sold them for a huge pile of Spirit Stones...